Travellers have returned to playing fields - just weeks after security measures were brought in to try to keep them out.

Staffordshire County Council installed a mound of earth and concrete bollards on the corner of Milehouse Lane and Hoon Avenue, in Wolstanton, earlier this month after the site was repeatedly targeted by gypsies.

But the travellers bypassed the blockades and accessed the site via land owned by Wolstanton High School.

Now residents are calling for better security measures to be introduced at the site.

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More than 10 caravans are today on the field and washing has been drying in the late summer sun.

Travellers off Milehouse Lane, Wolstanton

Anthony Matthews, aged 41, who lives opposite the field, said: “I got a phone call to say they were back again and when I went out to walk my dog on Tuesday night there were three vans there. By this morning there were 11 vans. They have parked in a horseshoe shape and put their washing out on the line. A panel of fencing has also been cut down to make it easier for them to get on and off the land.

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“The main problem is the mess they leave behind and 11 families are going to leave a lot of mess behind them. The ease with which they get on the land is a joke and we need proper barriers. More needs to be done to stop this land being such an open goal.”

Gypsies off Milehouse Lane, Wolstanton

Peter Waters, who lives in Milehouse Lane, said: “I knew the gypsies would be back. The bollards are a joke and there are so many caravans it is like a Butlins campsite.

“Both the school and the council need to do more to stop this. I have told the school that they need to close the gaps between the fence poles because they can drive right through them.

“It is a nightmare living here now. In 50 years we have not had a problem as bad this because we have had gypsy camps five times in just one year.

“Someone is going to get hurt on there. Young kids are driving cars and doing handbrake turns. The council and the police need to do something because people around here will not put up with those gypsies for much longer.”

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A spokesman said: “We do not have the power to remove traveller encampments from public, council or privately-owned land if the only offence they have committed is civil trespass.

“In this case, the onus is on the landowner to seek legal action to remove them. However, when we have been notified of a traveller encampment, we will attend to carry out inquiries regarding their visit and notify landowners of their presence. We then support landowners while they reach a solution and continue to patrol the site regularly.

“It is our duty to remain impartial and prevent a breach of the peace."